Amazon Wants Supreme Court to Rule on Sales Taxes

More than a year after Amazon began collecting sales tax on sales in states like Texas and California, it’s mounting a legal offensive against a requirement to do the same thing in New York, taking its argument to the U.S. Supreme Court. The company filed a petition asking the court to rule on the New York tax department’s requirement that Amazon collect tax from its customers in the state.

Android Called Most Common Target of Mobile Attacks

Google Inc's Android, the dominant mobile operating system, is by far the primary target for malware attacks, mostly because many users are still using older versions of the software, according to a study by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Android was a target for 79 percent of all malware threats to mobile operating systems in 2012 with text messages representing about half of the malicious applications, according to the study from the government agencies, which was published by Public Intelligence website.

Judge in E-Books Case Wants Monitor to Oversee Apple

A U.S. judge weighing remedies to assure that Apple Inc does not fix prices again in the e-books market said that she plans to require it to hire an external monitor, something the company considers unnecessary. But U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan suggested a final injunction would be narrower than what the U.S. Department of Justice has been seeking, and would not restrict Apple's agreements with suppliers of other types of content such as movies, music and TV shows.

Facebook Reports Increase in Government User Requests

Governments sought information on over 38,000 Facebook users in the first half of 2013 and the No.1 social network complied with most requests, the firm said in its first report on the scale of data inquiries it gets from countries around the world. The report follows allegations by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden that practically every major Internet company -- including Facebook, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp -- routinely hands over troves of data on potentially millions of users to national intelligence agencies.

Judge Approves $20 Million Facebook Privacy Settlement

A U.S. judge granted final approval to Facebook's $20 million settlement of a lawsuit over targeted advertising despite objections that the deal did not go far enough to protect children's privacy. Five plaintiffs filed a class action against Facebook in 2011, saying the social networking giant's "Sponsored Stories" program shared users' "likes" of certain advertisers with friends without paying them or allowing them to opt out.

Treasury Department Organizes Bitcoin Meeting

U.S. regulators and law enforcement agencies are expected to meet with an advocacy group for Bitcoin, a digital currency that has been under fire for its purported role in facilitating anonymous money transfers and supporting online purchases of illegal street drugs. The meeting in Washington was arranged by the Treasury Department's anti-money laundering unit at the request of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group of Bitcoin-related businesses.

Chinese Registry Suffers Denial-of-Service Attack

Part of the Chinese Internet went down in what the government is calling the largest denial-of-service attack it has ever faced. The attack began at 2 a.m. Sunday morning and was followed by a more intense attack at 4 a.m., according to the China Internet Network Information Center, which apologized to affected users in its statement and said it is working to improve its “service capabilities.”

Microsoft, Motorola Starting New Patent Trial

Microsoft Corp takes on Google's Motorola Mobility unit in the second of two landmark trials between the companies that delve into hot disputes over the patents behind smartphone and Internet technology. The jury trial, starting in federal court in Seattle, is set to resolve whether Motorola breached its contract with Microsoft to license on reasonable terms its so-called standard essential patents, covering wireless and video technology used in the Xbox game console.

Judge Denies Mistrial in Carnegie Mellon Patent Case

A federal judge denied Marvell Technology Group Ltd's request to declare a mistrial in a patent infringement case in which a jury awarded $1.17 billion in damages to Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon sued Marvell in March 2009 over patents issued in 2001 and 2002 related to how accurately hard disk- drive circuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks.

Apple Assembly Company Sells Some Patents to Google

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., known for its close ties to Apple Inc., said it sold some display patents to Google Inc. The Apple and iPad assembler didn’t specify a value for the deal or expound on details, except to say the patents sold to Google included head-mounted technology that allows a virtual image to be superimposed on a “real-world view.”

Judge Lets Apple, Samsung Keep Financial Details Private

Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd do not have to make public the financial details submitted to a U.S. court during high-profile patent litigation, a federal appeals panel ruled. The Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington reversed a lower court ruling that ordered the two companies to disclose portions of documents that contain profit and sales information.

U.S., States Propose Shorter E-Book Apple Injunction

The U.S. government offered to cut in half the length of a proposed injunction to punish Apple Inc for conspiring with five major publishers to raise e-book prices. In a court filing, the U.S. Department of Justice and 33 U.S. states and territories recommended reducing the injunction's length to five years from 10, with a chance to seek a "limited number" of one-year extensions if events warrant.